


better a day in the rain

by babydeathclaw



Category: Guilty Gear
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-22 22:59:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10706934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babydeathclaw/pseuds/babydeathclaw
Summary: Frederick - sorry, Sol - is a grown adult with a dumb screen name and no real reason to get up in the morning. Aria is a capable woman who takes on far more than she needs to. Asuka R. Kreutz is good at everything but the people he cares about.Or, the modern AU of an OT3 no one asked for or wanted.





	better a day in the rain

**Author's Note:**

> I've never published my bizarre rarepairs before (does it really count as a rarepair if 2/3 of it is canon?) But I thought 'fuck it' because who reads Guilty Gear fanfiction anyway?  
> May or may not get smutty later, rating will change to reflect that if it does.

[12:40:55 AM] Justice: hey, you up?

            [12:41:23 AM] SolBadGuy: yeah

            [12:43:49 AM] Justice: just wondering if you wanted to do the daily quest with me. i’m trying to get the lightning sword.

            [12:50:05 AM] SolBadGuy: sorry

            [12:50:55 AM] SolBadGuy: start my new job tomorrow and i kinda need the sleep

            [12:51:00 AM] SolBadGuy: lol

            [12:52:12 AM] Justice: oh!

            [12:52:30 AM] Justice: congrats. please get some rest.

            [12:53:43 AM] Justice: maybe leave your computer in the other room for once.

            [12:55:20 AM] SolBadGuy: thanks mom

            [12:55:41 AM] Justice: still, i’m not wrong.

            [12:55:50 AM] Justice: goodnight!

                                                                        ---

Sol’s alarm went off for a solid minute before he was finally pulled out of a deep and unsatisfying sleep. He felt around for his phone, hitting buttons until it stopped playing the default fire-alarm thing it had been on since he got it. He didn’t like advice, but there was one piece of advice he clung to religiously: never change your alarm to a song you like. There are too few things that make you happy in the world to start to hate one of them.

 _How long till bed time again_? he wondered, mentally calculating. It was 7:23 now. He should shower and have breakfast. He probably had some bread in the freezer for toast. Showering would be nice. Then the bus, which would be packed and awful. Then work. Introductions. Orientation. Nah. Not today.

The funny thing about money, though, is that it was a pretty good incentive to get out of bed, if only because Sol liked eating and having a roof over his head and having an internet connection. A simple man with simple pleasures, and for some reason past-Sol had decided he needed to go the whole way with a degree and a proper job that his parents could be proud of. Past-Sol was a nerd and a loser and should be responsible for present-Sol’s student loans. And his job. At least Present-Sol had a job.

Around 7:43 Sol forced himself out of his warm bed into the cold of his apartment, keeping the lights off until he was in the bathroom. The water was equally warm and inviting and he would’ve stayed under the spray until the flow went cold, but he was already running late and he didn’t want to disappoint some people he’d never even met.

Washed and dressed in a wrinkly dress shirt (albeit clean, so it’d have to do), he crawled his way down the narrow hall to the kitchen. There was a light on and the gentle whir of the electric kettle, which meant Axl was up. But Axl was always up. Axl didn’t have time to sleep; he had Overwatch.

“G’mornin. Who’s Justice?” Axl asked, waiting at the kettle with his WORLD’S BEST DAD mug in hand, poised and ready. Axl was single and never had children.

It took Sol a full minute to figure out what the fuck he was asking. Axl’s toast popped in that time, and he offered a plain slice to Sol.

“Left your Skype logged in. I borrowed your computer,” Axl explained, spreading an ungodly amount of jam on his own piece. Sol glared at him, dumping some hazelnut instant coffee in his university travel mug.

“First, why the fuck did you borrow my computer?” Sol said, taking the kettle once it boiled before Axl had a chance to. “Second, she’s someone I play Guilty Gear with. Why do you care?”

“Aw, nothing. Thought it might be someone important.” Axl said, making a grab for the hot water. “Of course, I shoulda known better.”

“You didn’t answer my first question.”

“Wanted to jerk it and my phone was in the other room.”

“Are you fucking-“

“Yes, I’m kidding. I had to look something up. Not porn.”

Sol let his next words come out as an undignified grunt. Clock glance. 8:02 AM. Shit.

“Gotta go,” he said, squeezing past Axl and pulling his shoes on while trying to drink his coffee.

“Oh, shit, right, new job. G’luck!”

Sol ran up to the station and managed to hop on the bus right as it was about to pull away. Wall-to-wall crowded in by students and morning commuters - the hospital was by his old university, and the bus connected to the train to downtown. He felt like he was going through some bizarre second puberty; too exhausted for even the senior students, but still gangly and awkward and underdressed for the professionals.

He had his headphones in on the ride there but his mind just couldn’t focus and enjoy the music. He got about three songs in before he just stopped the music and stared out the window, listening to some undergrad talk at a girl about his econ class. He never thought he’d rather be going back to school, but, well, he’d give an arm and maybe some fraction of his leg to just show up in Kliff’s office and sit down and talk through a problem, scientific or not, and hypothesize about his future rather than have to live it. Past-Sol really had it good.

The bus ride seemed much shorter than usual, but his phone told him he only had a couple minutes to sprint down the road or be late for his first day. And he’d forgotten deodorant.

Sol took a deep breath and leaned into a run like he hadn’t had to since high school. Sports had given way to MMOs and licorice on the couch, and his body wasn’t liking how he was desperately trying to reach back into his youth. By the time he got to the lab entrance he was positively sweating, and slowed to a brisk walk while trying to get his breath back. He clamped his arms to his sides like his life depended on it, hoping he could get to the bathroom and rub some shitty soap on his pits before anyone noticed.

His key card didn’t work on the first try, and Sol, who’d actually been smart enough to get into university once upon a time, spent five minutes figuring out which way to put it in. By the time he got the door open, he actually had a decent excuse for being late.

He was greeted by an empty hallway and the gentle buzz of a work space. He checked his phone. 8:03. Not terrible.

“Hey! Door give you trouble?”

Sol’d gained an audience. She was short, with a small build and an awkward smile, like she wasn’t sure if her joke fell right or not. Her hair was pulled up behind her in a bun that was only barely holding it together. _The bags under her eyes and the forced cheerfulness._ _Student. Probably definitely a student_.

“Uh… yeah,” Sol grunted in reply, shaking his travel mug as discreetly as possible to see if he still had any left. “I’m Frederick, I’m-“

“Oh, yeah, Professor Kliff sent you to us. I’m Aria, I’m the assistant lab manager.” She walked up to him and grabbed his free hand, shaking it vigorously. “You’ll be working alongside myself and occasionally Dr. Kreutz until we can work you up to handling your own assignments.”

“Is Dr. Kreutz the guy who hired me?” Sol asked. “Also, where can I put my coat-“

“Oh, you can put your things in the break room. We have _cubbies_ ,” she said, splaying her hands and wiggling her fingers. She motioned for Sol to follow her and walked down the hall. “And no. You probably haven’t met Dr. Kreutz yet. Dr. Varshi quit very recently due to some personal health problems, and Dr. Kreutz is his replacement.”

Okay, Sol was fine with that. He’d been kind of a sweaty, tired mess during his interview; thankfully his grades seemed to speak for themselves.

“How long have you been here?” he asked after a beat of silence. That constituted good small talk.

“Oh, I started working here while doing my master’s, so about four years now.” She grinned, saving Sol the brain power of trying to figure out her experience, because something felt off. “Anyway, pick a cubby, put your stuff in, write your name on anything going in the fridge.”

“Sure,” Sol said. He hung up his coat and pulled his lunch out of his backpack. Axl could be obnoxious but he was nice enough to always make Sol a ham and swiss sandwich to take with him so he didn’t have to buy lunch, wrapped up in a plastic grocery bag en lieu of a proper lunchbag. (“I’m like your butler! Brit and everything.” “No.”)

“Here.” Aria thrust a sharpie into his hand. “Trust me. Name. We keep having problems with lunch theft. Can’t prove anything if your name isn’t on it.” Sol wondered why people thought that would help. He was sure anyone hungry enough wouldn’t give a shit who’s food they’d taken if there was no one around to see it.

“Is Sol your last name?”

“What?” Sol looked up, for a brief moment wondering if his coworker he’d just met had googled him and found his Guilty Gear account or something, even if he didn’t attach his real name to it. Why would she know –

Then he looked down, realizing he’d written his nickname on the bag instead of his legal one, which most adults in the workforce would and should know him as.

“Oh, sorry,” he said, spluttering the words to explain it as best as he could. “No, it’s a habit, it’s my nickname, everyone I know calls me that… sometimes I call myself that without thinking.” He scribbled it out like his life depended on it, replacing it with his legal name. “Sorry. Tired.”

Aria blinked at him like he’d just guessed the end of a murder novel.

“Oh. Okay!” She said. Her enthusiasm was bordering on forced excitement. “That’s cool. Nicknames are cool.”

“Yeah.” Sol agreed. “But you can, just, call me Frederick.”

“Not Fred?”

“God no.”

“Freddy?”

“Only if you’re my mom.”

“Got it. Okay. Frederick. If you’ve figured out how to write your name, follow me.”

                                                            ---

The worst part, Sol decided, about having a normal adult job with reasonable hours was that everyone was going to work and leaving work at the same time as you. Sol once again was unable to get a seat on the crowded bus, and put his headphones on as loud as he dared to try and get through the slow crawl of a commute home. He briefly wondered if the cost of car payments and insurance would outweigh the benefit of getting a vehicle to himself, but realized he’d have to sit in traffic either way. And he might as well do it while being slightly less broke.

On the way there, his dad called him. It was jarring and he almost ripped his headphones out as the ringing intruded on his music. He stared at the screen, waiting almost breathlessly for it to go to voicemail. It did. He didn’t listen.

Sol pushed the door open to his apartment and was greeted to the familiar sound of Axl beating the PS4 controller to a plastic scrap heap, sprawled out on their couch in obnoxious red underwear and a grey sweater he’d stolen from Sol. He was chattering excitedly into his headphones, occasionally reaching over to dig two fingers into a bowl of humus and lick it off.

“I don’ care, if they pick Widowmaker again I’m gonna walk halfway across the country and choke them to death with their own HDMI cord. Hi Sol! How was work? Sorry, my roommate’s home.”

Sol made a noncommittal grunt and left his shoes in the front hall, grabbing his laptop before slinking off to his room. Axl barely seemed to notice, already yelling about something else. Axl had boundless energy, even on days that he worked: always up before Sol was, awake far longer, and home and comfortable by the time Sol dragged his ass through the door. He felt vaguely hungry but after spending all day interacting with strangers, he didn’t feel like being in the same space as his roommate unless absolutely necessary.

He took his pants off and sat on the bed. Okay Sol. Day one was over. _You did it! You have a big boy job! You get along with your coworker! You should be happy._

But it kind of felt like graduation again. Like he knew he’d done it – he’d gotten where  he fought to be, missed assignments and begging for extra credit be damned – but it felt like a hollow trophy. Not necessarily a Now what? but a So what? And so what’s were dangerous.

He opened his laptop. Email notification. His mom wanted to know how his first day of work went.

_Hi Freddy! Howd youre first day go? Im very excited to hear about it. please let me kno when you can come by for dinner just you and me. love you. xo mom_

Sol closed his email and opened Guilty Gear, waiting for it to load. The weekend events were over, and he didn’t know who would be online on a Monday, but he wanted to do something mindless even if it was just shooting robots.

[6:22:45] Justice: hey!

Sol chewed on the inside of his lip.

[6:22:50] Justice: got the lightning sword. it’s kind of ridiculous in pvp. i feel bad.

[6:22:53] Justice: not really

[6:23:00] Justice: hahahaha

[6:23:22] SolBadGuy: do u think theyll nerf it

[6:24:13] Justice: probably. i’m going to use it before its gone.

[6:24:30] Justice: how was your first day?

[6:24:55] SolBadGuy: oh yeah

[6:25:07] SolBadGuy: it was okay

[6:25:13] Justice: just okay?

[6:25:48] SolBadGuy: yeah im just tired and a little overwhelmed

[6:25:59] Justice: i’m sorry.

[6:26:30] Justice: if you don’t want to play right now that’s cool.

[6:27:16] SolBadGuy: no trust me id rather be playing than working

[6:27:29] SolBadGuy: just got a lot of shit to think about

[6:28:00] Justice: i understand. pvp or a mission?

[6:28:14] SolBadGuy: whatever you want is good with me

**Author's Note:**

> Some clarification: In this universe, Guilty Gear is a free MMO kind of similar in playstyle to something like Warframe or Destiny (so basically Warframe, Guilty Gear is my Warframe AU). You build a Gear character and do nerd gaming shit with it. Some characters may or may not still have supernatural powers. Aria, like in canon, is still a genius who got through school 1030349 years before everyone else, and is two years younger than Sol.  
> Also: I am a dirty BFA student who loves science but is bad at it, and has no idea how a laboratory functions. I'll try and keep most of the setting outside of their job so I don't embarrass myself too badly.  
> 


End file.
